Emissions Standards, As Applied to Emissions

A logical, completely common-sense rule is issued by the EPA, with the end result being the generation of additional, much-needed electrical power. From the Washington Post, “Expanding Facilities Get Relief From EPA“:

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule yesterday that will make it easier for industrial plants, refineries and paper mills to expand operations without applying for new pollution permits under the Clean Air Act.

The rule, part of the Bush administration’s ongoing effort to revamp a pollution-control program known as New Source Review, says that when expanding or modernizing plants calculate their emissions to determine whether they need to install new control measures, they are not required to include emissions from unrelated activities at the same plant.

Seems straightforward enough: Regulation of emissions affected by the installation of new equipment should address those specific emissions, not something totally unrelated.

The EPA has been working on the rule for two years, and the NAM welcomes the outcome.

“Frankly, I’m a little surprised they’ve gotten to this,” said Bryan Brendle, director of energy and resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers. Brendle added that his association “supports any sort of simplification and streamlining of a fairly cumbersome program” such as New Source Review.

Also, “Brendle said that manufacturers had hoped the administration would approve the original troika of changes but that ‘one is better than nothing.'”